Tens of thousands of people have sought shelter as powerful Typhoon Hagupit heads towards the Philippines.
Hagupit, or Ruby in the Philippines, has gusts of up to 250km/h (155mph) and is forecast to reach land on Saturday.
It is on course for the Eastern Samar province and the city of Tacloban, where thousands were killed by Typhoon Haiyan a year ago.
Local residents, many of them still living in temporary shelters, are moving away from coastal areas.
Haiyan - known as Yolanda in the Philippines - was the most powerful typhoon ever recorded over land. It tore though the central Philippines in November 2013, leaving more than 7,000 dead or missing.
Hagupit, which means "smash" in Filipino, is not expected to be a powerful as Haiyan but could bring storm surges up to one storey high.
Officials have warned the storm will bring heavy rain, storm surges and the risk of landslides.
The US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center had classified Hagupit as a super typhoon but downgraded it on Friday morning. It remains the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year.
Schools and government offices are closed in some areas and there were long queues at shops and petrol stations as people stocked up on supplies.
In Tacloban, many people had chosen to seek shelter in the sports stadium.
"We've learned our lesson from Yolanda," Rita Villadolid, 39, told AFP news agency. "Everyone here is gripped with fear."
The Philippine weather authorities said that as of 04:00 local time (20:00 GMT Thursday) Hagupit was 500km (300 miles) east of Eastern Samar and moving at a speed of 13km/h. It has sustained winds of 215km/h and gusts of up to 250 km/h.
Meteorologists had said there was a chance Hagupit could veer north towards Japan and miss the Philippines altogether, but this scenario is increasingly seen as unlikely.
The Philippines gives its own names to typhoons once they move into Philippine waters, rather than using the international storm-naming system.
